Rolls-Royce Motor Cars PressClub · Article.
ROLLS-ROYCE PRESENTS PHANTOM SCINTILLA PRIVATE COLLECTION: A TRIBUTE TO THE SPIRIT OF ECSTASY
16.08.2024 Press Release
For more than a century, the Spirit of Ecstasy has symbolised elegance and human achievement, inspiring countless works of art, from music to photography and moving image. In 2024, the year the marque celebrates its 120th anniversary, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars pays homage to its timeless muse in a unique Private Collection, named Phantom Scintilla.
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Malika Abdullaeva
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
Related Links.
- Rolls-Royce Motor Cars reveals Phantom Scintilla Private Collection
- Inspired by the grace, dynamism and ethereal beauty of the Spirit of Ecstasy
- Spirit of Ecstasy figurine rendered in exquisite ceramic finish
- Recalls the inspiration for the figurine: the Greek marble sculpture ‘Winged Victory of Samothrace’
- ‘Celestial Pulse’ Gallery artwork and animated Bespoke Starlight Headliner capture the fleeting presence of the Spirit of Ecstasy
- Coach doors and seats feature embroidery comprising 869,500 stitches
- The most complex interior door design ever seen in a Rolls-Royce motor car
- Based on Phantom Extended, the ultimate canvas for Bespoke commissions
- All 10 examples allocated to clients worldwide through Rolls-Royce Private Office network
“Speed with silence, the absence of vibration, the mysterious
harnessing of great energy, and a beautiful living organism of
superb grace.”
Claude Johnson, Managing Director, Rolls-Royce Limited –
Original brief for a Rolls‑Royce figurine (1910)
"The unveiling of a Private Collection is always a landmark
moment. These rare and collectable motor cars, limited to just a
handful of examples worldwide, are true masterpieces. They
illustrate the boundless ingenuity and skill of the creatives and
craftspeople at the Home of Rolls-Royce and stimulate ideas among
our clients for their own commissions. They also affirm
Rolls-Royce’s status as an authentic luxury house. We do not simply
build motor cars — we create rare, complex and exquisitely crafted
super-luxury products that are highly prized by collectors today and
will be cherished long into the future.
Crafting exquisite Bespoke products and shaping extraordinary
experiences directly responds to the requirements of today’s
super-luxury consumers. This approach will continue to shape our
business. We will grow our global network of VIP-only Private Office
outposts, where our designers collaborate directly with our clients
to co-create the most extraordinary motor cars, wherever they are in
the world. We will expand our home in Goodwood to grow the scale of
our Bespoke offering, and we will continue to craft the most
intricate and sophisticated experiences and Bespoke luxury goods in
the world. Phantom Scintilla, which honours our enduring muse, the
Spirit of Ecstasy, is the perfect expression of these principles."
Chris Brownridge, Chief Executive, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
For more than a century, the Spirit of Ecstasy has
symbolised elegance and human achievement, inspiring countless works
of art, from music to photography and moving image. In 2024, the year
the marque celebrates its 120th anniversary, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
pays homage to its timeless muse in a unique Private Collection, named
Phantom Scintilla. Based on Phantom Extended – the ultimate canvas for
personalisation – this magnificent collection celebrates the ethereal
beauty, grace and legacy of the Spirit of Ecstasy.
Limited to just ten examples worldwide, Rolls-Royce Phantom
Scintilla’s design evokes the wonder of the Spirit of Ecstasy’s
fleeting presence: its exquisite interior features were inspired by
the apparent movement of her robes, as the motor car glides by.
Graceful Bespoke embroidery flowing throughout the interior
captures the Spirit of Ecstasy’s elegant dynamism, culminating in a
complex Gallery artwork. Carefully curated design features allude to
the figurine’s origins with their references to Parian Marble: it was
in this famed material that, more than 2,000 years ago, an unknown
genius of Classical Greece sculpted The Winged Victory of
Samothrace, the statue that inspired Claude Johnson’s original
idea for a Rolls‑Royce mascot.
Phantom Scintilla derives its name from the Latin word for
‘spark’ – a bright flash, witnessed only for an instant. This refers
to Claude Johnson’s first flash of inspiration for a mascot, the
aforementioned Greek statue, and captures the Spirit of Ecstasy’s
ethereal grace – something glimpsed only for a moment as the motor car
passes by, but which leaves a lasting impression.
A NEW CHAPTER TO AN OLD STORY
In 1910, Rolls-Royce Managing Director Claude Johnson
commissioned sculptor and illustrator Charles Sykes to create a
Rolls-Royce mascot. Johnson already had an inspiration in mind: on a
trip to Paris, he had visited the Louvre and been greatly impressed by
the Greek marble statue of a deity descending from the heavens –
The Winged Victory of Samothrace, which dates from 190 BCE.
Sykes, however, felt the statue was too domineering to be a
suitable subject. Having often travelled in Silver Ghosts, he believed
a more delicate, ethereal figure would better express the marque’s
grace, silence and subtle power. It is now generally accepted that he
took his inspiration for what would become the Spirit of Ecstasy from
Eleanor Thornton, Lord Montagu’s secretary and paramour. In creating
Phantom Scintilla, the Bespoke Collective has reclaimed some of
Johnson’s original inspiration, by introducing new materials and
subtle references to the captivating vision of The Winged Victory
of Samothrace.
MATERIAL MAGIC
The famed statue is sculpted in Parian marble, a
fine-grained white marble quarried during the classical era on the
Greek island of Paros. Known for its purity and radiance, this
material allows light to penetrate to a depth of several centimetres,
giving it a lustre that appears to come from within.
For Phantom Scintilla, the Spirit of Ecstasy figurine has been
given a ceramic finish that skilfully alludes to the texture of Parian
marble, while retaining its familiar femininity and ethereality – a
Rolls-Royce icon that finally unites the visions of both Johnson and Sykes.
“We were fascinated with the qualities of Parian marble, and this
material became the subject of our research for many months. To
create a clear and elegant connection to the famed statue, we
developed a ceramic finish that captures the translucence and purity
of this unique stone, and perfectly embraces the ethereal nature of
our icon”.
Celina Mettang, Bespoke Colour and Material Designer,
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.
EXTERIOR: GREEK INSPIRATION
Phantom Scintilla’s exterior is presented in a
two-tone Bespoke finish. The upper body is in Andalusian White, with
the lower body in Thracian Blue, inspired by the colours of the sea
around the island of Samothrace, whence the statue of The Winged
Victory of Samothrace originates. A subtle metallic flake
mimics the sparkle of sunlight on the water. The hand-painted double
Coachline and Wheel Pinstripes in Spirit Blue complete the graceful exterior.
INTERIOR: EXPRESSIVE MOVEMENT
The interior is filled with design elements, textures
and a continuous graphic inspired by the Spirit of Ecstasy’s
expressive, dynamic form – the result of an intense collaboration
between Bespoke designers and artisans. The graphic moves through the
cabin, embracing the occupants in an uninterrupted flow of energy.
“We wanted to create a single graphic that almost appears as a
watercolour artwork – we call it ‘painting with thread’. To create a
luminescent effect, we used four different colours, thread
thicknesses and stitch orientations. In doing so, we covered areas
never explored in a Rolls-Royce before, achieving the most extensive
density of
embroidery ever seen in a Rolls-Royce motor car.”
Katrin Lehmann, Bespoke Colour and Material Designer,
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.
The lead artisan tasked with bringing this idea to
life, Brienny Dudley, experimented with a variety of stitches and hues
before selecting the tatami stitch, which was applied over six layers,
interlacing in varying degrees of density and complexity. The full
interior composition comprises 869,500 stitches and takes over 40
hours to complete.
“Translating this design into a three-dimensional form was a
wonderful creative challenge, requiring more than two and a half
years of close collaboration with our Bespoke design team to achieve
the right level of detail, texture and tactility in the embroidery.
Having two canvases – leather and fabric – added another level of
complexity, as these materials respond to stitching in different
ways. 36 individually embroidered panels had to be carefully curated
so that they aligned perfectly, creating a seamless, flowing motif
through the interior suite.”
Brienny Dudley, Bespoke Craft Specialist, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.
The embroidered motif on the doors – the most complex
door design ever seen on a Rolls-Royce – is made of 633,000 stitches
combining Blue Grey, Arctic White, Spirit Blue, Powder Blue and Pastel
Yellow thread, complemented by illuminated perforations. By night, the
embroidery takes on a mesmerising, luminescent sparkle and appears to
glow from within. The seats are upholstered in a twill fabric with a
subtle reflective sheen, providing an additional complexity to the
material interplay within the interior. 236,500 stitches applied in
Blue Grey, Arctic White and Spirit Blue thread continue the complex
graphic spanning across the four doors.
‘CELESTIAL PULSE’ GALLERY ARTWORK
The centrepiece of Phantom Scintilla is a Bespoke
artwork in the Gallery which runs the full width of the front fascia.
Entitled Celestial Pulse, the work consists of seven ribbons, each
individually milled from solid aluminium, before being adorned with
the same finely-grained ceramic finish as the Spirit of Ecstasy
figurine. The edges are polished to a mirror shine so that they catch
the light, creating a sense of movement and fluidity.
Claude Johnson’s original brief for a Rolls-Royce mascot is
displayed on an embossed plate concealed in the glove compartment.
These words, written in 1910, wonderfully capture the essence of the
Phantom Scintilla Private Collection: ‘Speed with silence, the
absence of vibration, the mysterious harnessing of great energy, and
a beautiful living organism of superb grace’.
‘FLEETING MOMENT’ STARLIGHT HEADLINER
Phantom Scintilla’s Bespoke Starlight Headliner
features an animation inspired by the Spirit of Ecstasy’s flowing
gown. 1,500 fibre-optic ‘stars’, all placed and fitted by hand in a
unique pattern, illuminate in sequence, adding to the sense of motion.
The design is completed with a further 4,450 perforations deliberately
made larger than usual to reveal glimpses of a metallic silver fabric
beneath, creating a subtle interplay of light.
GRACEFUL DETAILS
The sense of movement continues on the rear picnic
tables, with a delicate graphic capturing the Spirit of Ecstasy’s
fluidity of motion. The motif is applied with the masking technique on
top of the glossy iridescent surface, then hand-sanded and coated with
a matte finish, creating the illusion of two subtle, shifting colours.
The full wood set is rendered in Arctic White and finished with a
lacquer mixed with iridescent metallic particles. To achieve the
effect, craftspeople apply up to 19 coats of lacquer – a process that
takes more than 190 hours per motor car.
The Private Collection name is engraved on the polished
stainless-steel treadplates. As a finishing touch, each commission is
supplied with a Bespoke car cover.
The Rolls-Royce Phantom Scintilla Private Collection is
available exclusively through the marque’s international Private
Office network.
CO2 EMISSIONS & CONSUMPTION.
PHANTOM EXTENDED: NEDCcorr (combined): CO2 emissions: 345 g/km; Fuel consumption: 15.1 ltr/100 km / 18.7 mpg. WLTP (combined): CO2 emissions: 362-348 g/km; Fuel consumption: 15.9-15.2 ltr/100 km / 17.7-18.6 mpg. Further information: https://bit.ly/3XtQW7q